


End of the Line (Back to the Beginning)

by Settiai



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, One Shot, Spectre Requisitions, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23164987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: They both knew the end was coming, one way or another.Snapshots of a war.
Relationships: Greg Adams/Karin Chakwas
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15
Collections: Spectre Requisitions 2020





	End of the Line (Back to the Beginning)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pigeon_theoneandonly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigeon_theoneandonly/gifts).



Karin pointedly ignored the curious looks being aimed her way as she made her way towards engineering, a mug of coffee held firmly in each hand. It probably would have been simpler to stay up in the mess, but several of the crew were gathered there and, loathe as she was to admit it, she knew that her presence would only make things awkward for them. The _Normandy_ was small, and many of the sharp lines that would be clear on a larger ship had been blurred almost beyond recognition the past few months, but there were still some she wasn't quite ready to cross.

Not to mention the fact that she wasn't particularly in the mood to hear about just who had done what on their recent shore leave. If any of the crew had been too incautious, she'd be hearing more details than she'd like soon enough when they came to her for treatment, and she didn't want to move that up any sooner than she had to.

Which led to her current trip to engineering.

Karin shook her head as the door in front of her opened with a soft whirring sound, not surprised to see Adams leaning forward to study a display and completely oblivious to the fact that she was standing a few feet away from him. Some things would never change.

It was a bit surprising to see the young quarian woman, Tali'Zorah, standing nearby and studying the same display just as intently, although in retrospect she probably should have expected it. She could count on one hand the number of times she'd seen the girl on the higher decks when it hadn't involved a trip to the medical bay. Where else would she be than engineering?

She stood there for a moment, carefully schooling her expression into one that wasn't quite so amused, before clearing her throat.

Adams spun around, his eyes going wide for a moment before he realized who was standing there. Then his surprise faded into something more akin to sheepishness. "Dr. Chakwas," he said, "what are you doing here?"

"I decided to come see just what was so interesting that you left me sitting alone waiting for you," she said dryly, injecting just enough amusement into her voice to let Adams know that she wasn't actually upset. They'd known each other for years, even if they hadn't served together for most of that time, so she knew he should be able to pick up on her tone.

His face flushed just slightly as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Is it that late already?" he asked. "I must have lost track of time."

Karin just raised her eyebrows in reply.

"It's my fault," Tali'Zorah interjected suddenly, and Karin was fairly certain there was more than a little worry in her voice. "I noticed something odd in the readings earlier. It was just a small glitch, but we were trying to find the underlying issue in the coding so that it doesn't happen again."

Adams glanced over at the girl. "It was a good catch," he said. "It could have gotten a lot worse if you hadn't seen it when you did."

Despite her face being hidden, Tali'Zorah's embarrassment was as clear as day. Or perhaps it was because her face was hidden that her body language revealed so much. Either way, Karin was willing to bet a good deal of money that the poor child would have been blushing beet red if she was a human.

"I should go see if the others need anything," Tali'Zorah said, glancing between the two of them before quickly nodding her head and slipping past Adam towards the door.

The man didn't even have the decency to pretend to hide his laughter as the door open just long enough for her to rush out.

Karin handed him the spare coffee she was still holding, and he took it gratefully. Then she reached out and swatted him in the chest.

"Ouch!" he said, ducking away from her. "What was that for?"

"Stop being mean to the poor child," Karin said. "You're going to scare her away, Adams."

Adams snorted. "You clearly haven't spent enough time around her if you think anything in the whole of the galaxy could scare her off this ship."

He took a sip of his coffee. Then he grimaced, his face shifting into an almost hurt look. "It's cold, Karin."

"If you'd met me when you were supposed it, it would have still been hot," she told him. "And when exactly did I tell you that you could call me by my first name?"

"Six months ago," Adams said immediately. "Arcturus Station, during that downtime we had while that last-minute work was being done on the _Normandy_. After your fourth brandy."

Karin didn't roll her eyes. It took quite a bit of effort on her part, but she resisted. Instead, she simply took a sip of her own coffee – her third cup and much fresher than the one she'd handed to Adams – and pretended he hadn't said anything.

His mouth twitched, an obvious smile tugging at the corners of it, before he brought the mug of cold coffee up to his lips and downed it. He grimaced a little at the taste but didn't hesitate as he swallowed it. 

This time, Karin did roll her eyes. "Was that supposed to impress me?" she asked dryly.

"Waste not, want not," Adams said with a shrug before reaching out and putting his free hand on her shoulder, clearly trying to steer her towards the door. "Was there anything fresher available?"

"That depends on whether or not Commander Shepard has come out of her quarters since I left the pot sitting there," Karin said. Then she sighed and gave in, letting him all but push her out of engineering and towards the lift. "Really, Greg, you were supposed to meet me for cards over an hour ago."

He raised his eyebrows when she used his given name, but he had enough sense not to say anything about it. "I'm getting old," he said. "My memory's starting to go."

Karin sighed. "You're younger than me."

"Well then, maybe it's your memory that's starting to go," he said. "Maybe I wasn't late. You just misremembered the time we were going to meet."

She shot him an unimpressed look as they stepped into the lift. "Oh, I'm going to get you for that one."

Adams simply grinned at her in return.

*

"Are you sure about this Chakwas?" Greg asked, frowning at her from the vidscreen.

Karin rolled her eyes. "Why is it that you only call me by my last name when you're upset?" she asked. "For the last time, I know what I'm doing."

The look that he shot her wasn't particularly impressed. "I would have believed you if what you're doing didn't involve _Cerberus_ ," he shot back. "If even half of the rumors from when we were serving with Shepard were true—"

"Oh, they were all true," Karin said, cutting him off. "In fact, the rumors were probably quite a bit better than the truth."

Greg glared at her. "Then why in the hell are you thinking about joining them?"

Karin reached up to rub her temples. "I'm not joining them," she said. "Not truly."

"Yeah, yeah, you've said," he said. "It will all be 'unofficial.'"

It was impressive that she could almost hear the quotation marks around that last word.

"Jeff has already told them 'yes,'" Karin said, her tone perhaps a bit harsher than she'd intended it to be.

Greg suddenly closed his mouth.

She rubbed her temples again, feeling every bit her age for the first time in years. "He's going to fly for them no matter what I do," she said. "At least this way I can be there for him. For a while."

There was a long pause before Greg let out a quiet sigh. "Is it really worth your career?"

"Oh, yes, my exciting career of moving files around on Mars," she said dryly. Then she let out a sigh of her own. "I'm not expecting it to cost me my career, Greg. I've taken a proper leave of absence, and I'm not going to be on Cerberus's payroll."

He just gave her a look.

"Don't look at me that way," she snapped at him. "If it goes wrong, then it goes wrong. But this is bigger than the two of us, and you know it. Shepard—"

She cut off abruptly, looking away from the screen for a moment.

"The commander's been gone for over a year, Karin," Greg said quietly. "Hell, it's closer to two by now."

Karin had told herself that she wouldn't tell him about the rumors that Jeff had told her, the ones that had convinced him to finally make a decision one way or the other. That it would be better that way.

But Greg Adams had been a friend to her for a long time, and the last year-and-a-half... well, they'd never crossed that line, at least not all the way, but it had become a lot more blurred since the _Normandy_ had burned around them. He deserved more from her than lies of omissions.

"I know you've heard about the disappearances that have started happening," she said softly, still not looking at the screen. She didn't want to see his face, not just then. "The ones out in the colonies."

There was a short, puzzled pause. "Yes," Greg said slowly, "but I don't see what that has to—"

"It's the Reapers," she said. "Or someone working for them, at least."

This time the silence was longer, harsher, and it was enough to finally push her to meet his gaze again. Greg was staring at her with a look on his face that she knew all-too-well.

It wasn't one of surprise.

"You've suspected as much too then?" she asked, tilting her head.

"The thought has crossed my mind a time or two," he said reluctantly. "There's a chance that I may still get the occasional message from Tali, and she's said a few things that have... gotten my attention."

Then he narrowed his eyes, his gaze suddenly growing a bit sharper. "That's what Cerberus is up to?" he asked. "Looking into the disappearances?"

"They're doing more than the Alliance is, at least," Karin said with a nod. "Not to mention—"

The words caught in her throat, and she couldn't quite force them out.

"Not to mention?" Greg repeated slowly. "Not to mention what?"

Karin forced herself to not look away. Jeff had done that much for her when he'd told her the news, his expression grim in a way that she'd gotten all too used to seeing since the _Normandy_ 's destruction.

"There are rumors that Shepard's still alive," she told him. "That Cerberus has her and is doing... well, it's Cerberus. Who knows what they're doing?"

Greg stared at her for a long moment, his face unreadable. "Are you sure?"

Karin snorted. "I'm sure that there are rumors," she said. "Whether or not they have any truth to them, well, that remains to be seen." She hesitated for a second. "But if they do, even a little. I can't just ignore them. Not when it's Shepard."

She could see when the rest of Greg's arguments faded away, leaving nothing behind but tired resignation. She wasn't surprised when he nodded at her.

"I still don't like it," he said.

Her eyebrows went up at that. "Then it's a good thing that whether or not you like something doesn't have any say on my decisions."

Greg laughed, but there wasn't any real humor in it. "Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don't know," he said. "Still."

"Still?" Karin repeated.

He bit his lip, and for just a second he looked more like a small boy than a grown-arse man who wasn't all that much younger than her no matter how much she liked to think otherwise.

"Be careful, Karin," he said. "I get why you're doing it, but still. Be careful." He hesitated. "Maybe I should—"

"Don't even finish that thought," Karin said, cutting him off before he could make an ill thought out suggestion to join her.

Greg simply grinned at her in return.

*

"You do realize there's a very good chance we're going to die before this all said and done, don't you?" Karin asked quietly, taking another small sip of rather horrible coffee and wishing not for the first time that it was brandy.

Across from her, Greg gave her a small shrug before chugging the rest of his coffee and reaching for the pot resting beside them on the table. "I can think of worse ways to go out," he said. "At least we're trying to do something."

Karin let out a snort. "And look how well it's going so far," she said tiredly. "Millions dead. Millions more dying."

"Every life matters," Greg said softly. "Aren't you the one who told me that, a long time ago? Maybe we're not making that much of a difference, but it's still a _difference_."

She rolled her eyes at him. "That was different," she said. "The sheer scale—"

"Why don't you leave the pessimism to me?" Greg asked, cutting in. "I'm better at it."

Karin glared at him, but she honestly didn't have the energy to fight. Not after everything. She reached out and picked up the coffee, pouring some more into her mug.

Then she held the newly filled mug out towards him. "Cheers then," she said dryly. "To every life saved. No matter how few."

"That's better," Greg said, clinking his mug against hers before taking another long drink from it.

The two of them settled into a comfortable silence before Greg let out an awkward cough that broke it. Karin glanced towards him, her eyebrows going up.

"I heard a rumor that we were going to be docking at the Citadel for at least a day," he said. "Something about Shepard being called in for a debriefing?"

Karin kept watching him. "I heard the same rumor," she said slowly. "Why?"

He gave her a slightly too casual shrug. "I was thinking that we could ask the commander for some leave," he said. "Nothing too long. Just a day. Maybe even a few hours, if we couldn't talk her up to a full day's worth."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "I repeat: why?"

"I was thinking that on the Citadel it would probably be a lot easier to find somewhere more... private." He gave her an innocent look that she didn't buy for a moment. "Even with all the refugees, it's a lot larger than the _Normandy_. I'm sure there's a room or two free for at least an hour or two."

It took a fair bit of effort on her part, but she didn't let herself smile. She carefully set her coffee mug down on the table. "An hour or two?" she repeated.

"That's right," Greg agreed.

Karin stared at him.

Greg stared right back at her.

She sighed. "If I manage to convince Shepard to let us have the leave," she said pointedly, "I expect that we'll need to find a room that's available for more than an hour or two. In fact, I'll be very disappointed if that's all the time we need."

He simply grinned at her in return.


End file.
